Nicole Kidman Shares Some Stanley Kubrick Memories

LACMA’s upcoming Stanley Kubrick film retrospective begins November 9 with Fear and Desire and ends December 15 with Eyes Wide Shut. There will also be a separate exhibit at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, preceded by a special November 7 celebration evening event hosted by Malcolm McDowell.

Today, via Hollywood Reporter reporter Merle Ginsberg, there is also a very intriguing oral history of Eyes Wide Shut from co-star Nicole Kidman. The actress tantalizingly reminds that some much more explicit footage she was comfortably coaxed into by the late filmmaker was cut from the movie. Kidman also confirms that Kubrick was no fan of spoilers:

People have asked me if Stanley ever told us what Eyes Wide Shut was about — and the answer is no. He didn’t believe in interpretation. He always said, “Never say no to an idea — you never know how that idea will ignite another idea.” He also said: “Never put me on a pedestal. When someone’s on a pedestal, there’s no creativity.” That’s how I approach every creative person now — it does not help to glorify them.

By the way, LACMA has a great opening summary line in its program guide for the December 15 Eyes Wide Shut screening. It reads: ‘For a filmmaker who could create entire universes for each of his films and have long-vanished worlds vividly brought back to life on screen, the bedroom proved to be Kubrick’s final frontier.’ Read Kidman’s THR essay here.